A little over two years ago, Ty Schmidt of NORTE spoke to us about organization and introduced to a number of their initiatives, among them were Safe Routes to School - Empowering elementary and middle school students to actively transport themselves to school, and Pro Walk/Pro Bike Advocacy - Advocating for more people on bicycles in Traverse City. These two, in particular, played well into his presentation on Tuesday.
Becky Ewing introduced Schmidt as he is a recent recipient of one of Rotary Charities newly developed collaborative grants. These grants are specifically looking at systems and are predicated on the various collaborator looking to find new and innovative systemic solutions to the problems that have been identified. In this case, it is a collaboration between NORTE, the School Systems and their administrations (TCAPS, GTACS, Trinity Lutheran) and City and County Administrations.
The Safe Routes to School initiative has grown and now has over twenty school partners on board and is currently working with Traverse City, Long Lake and East Bay on key infrastructure projects. As Schmidt points out in a weighty, well-prepared and researched presentation, the Rotary Charities grant has catapulted this project forward and has the many participants all focused on the systemic changes that need to take place to insure safety for all, not just our kids – now and in the future. The benefit extends to those who also choose to walk and only aids the overall health of the region going forward. One of the side goals is to bring the region and the State higher in health rankings nationally.
It all sounds good. More importantly, it shows the efficacy of the new grant-making efforts of our sister organization as it redirects how it funds non-profits.
Ty Schmidt